The Truth About R&D | Recycling Experiences

The Truth About R&D | Recycling Experiences:

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Shaken,not stirred

One question I recently came across while working out at the gym: How does protein shakes and increased protein intake helps in burning fat? (He was talking about Whey Protein supplements) Now, I thought the answer is simple for that question as one or two possible explanations popped into my mind at that instant which I told my friend. But after some time, I was myself not so sure about it, even though my reasoning was scientific enough but still I just had to be sure about it. So, I turned to the omnipotent, all knowing internet. And guess what, I managed to find information regarding it, in the form of numerous articles and published research papers. It gave a lot of possible mechanisms through which the body may lose fat as well as reduce weight by using whey protein supplements or including it as a part of the diet. Damn..!! Wasn’t I surprised….???

According to the various studies conducted, it is found that the whey protein may bring about fat loss and reduce weight by following ways:

1) Through the chemical channel, by regulating the hunger and satiety mechanism in the body, which is regulated by various chemicals. These chemicals, better known as hormones along with physiological and psychological factor controls a person’s urge to eat and also the feeling of fullness. One such hormone involve in this is cholecystokinin, which is responsible for the satiety or the felling of fullness one feels after a meal. The cholecystokinin (CCK) is released in the gastrointestinal tract and it interacts with the CCK receptors in the central nervous system and its periphery along with other hormones.

The whey protein intake is found to increase the CCK levels by 60 percent in plasma along with glucagon like peptide [GLP]-1 and glucose dependant insulinotropic polypeptide, post-absorption. CCK and [GLP]-1 are found to bring about satiety and hence check the food intake.

2) It is also found I certain studies that insulin sensitivity improves with high protein diet, which also plays an important role in weight loss. (Higher the insulin sensitivity lesser the amount of insulin required by the body. Increased secretion of insulin leads to increased food intake – happens in case of insulin resistance. As compared to other protein sources, including a diet rich in red meat, whey protein is found to reduce tissue lipid levels and increase insulin sensitivity.

3) In a certain study it was concluded that protein intake a hour prior to exercise maintains the lipid oxidation rate and also increases protein oxidation, supplying energy from both protein as well as lipid sources and simultaneously increasing the lean muscle mass and reducing fat. And this is proven in rats also, so even rats can hit the gym after taking protein supplements and dodge the cats effective afterwards, or even make those cats run for their lives.

4) Whey protein also has considerable effect on the levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter. Serotonin affects the moods and behavior of a person. Higher levels of serotonin means relaxed, calm mood, free from anxiety. An added benefit to all fitness enthusiasts, martial artists and especially the people on diet cutting down their calorie intake who tend to become easily irritable and others whose moods tend to swing like a monkey from one branch to another due to various reasons, whey protein supplements lets people around them breathe easy.

5) A study on people trying to lose weight whose diet is cut down by 500 calories per day and were given a specialized whey fraction or an isocaloric ready mix drink 20 minutes prior to breakfast or dinner over a period of 12 weeks have shown that the subjects who were on whey supplement lost more body fat mass and showed a greater preservation of lean muscle as compared to those who were on other ready mix isocaloric beverage.

Dairy proteins, like the whey protein has calcium in it which is also believed to regulate adipocyte lipid metabolism and storage of triglycerides and in turn reduce fat mass and body weight.

Now, after going through all these, I could breathe easy as whatever reasons I gave to my friend was right, even though I did not know some additional details which I have come to know by the end of this entry.

By the way, if anyone has read or heard about these studies or by chance stumbled across this entry of mine (usually by accident) and decide to binge on whey protein or any other protein supplements to gain lean muscle mass or lose body fat mass, be warned that excess proteins will do no good than burning holes through your pockets, screwing up your liver and kidneys and also increase the fat cells in the body.

I guess I’ve started sounding like a nutritionist or something and all these talk about proteins and supplements reminds me of my old job which I don’t miss at all. But it’s all fine as long as it is for a good cause..

ref: Source-1 

      Source-2 (PMCID: PMC2289832) 

     Photo by: buzzthrill shared under Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) 

Fuelling Doubts.

Most people own vehicles, and if you guys don’t know most of these vehicles run on petrol (gasoline) or diesel. Petroleum business is one of the most lucrative businesses, especially with petroleum being one of the most important materials required to run the whole planet. Thanks to various contraptions made by genius humans, which requires energy to function/operate. Most of the energy is supplied by fossil fuels, among which petroleum is the major source of energy. So, due to obvious reasons, petroleum is a major factor which governs the global economic and political balance.

Now forget the first paragraph. I just wrote it for the sake of writing as I wanted to make it sound important. I’m just writing about an observation I made in the recent days. As we all know, the major players in our country are three PSUs – Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and Bharath Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) along with other private and international players like Reliance Petroleum, Shell, Total and few other companies. We can see a lot of petrol pumps or filling stations spread all over the country, most of them are owned by these public sector oil companies. These are the same PSUs who constantly keep on whining that they are running in loss looking for excuses to increase the prices. I seriously don’t believe that they are losing money or they were ever running under loss.

Based upon my experience, I have found that the quality of service provided by these international players, especially Shell Petroleum is a lot better compared to other players. I have personally found that whenever I fill my bike’s tank at Shell, the mileage I get is higher compared for the same quantity of fuel filled at other HPCL, BPCL or IOCL stations. One more surprising thing: The fuel is cheaper at Shell filling stations as compared to other pumps and they also issue bills for every sale..!!

All these factors make me wonder about the quality of fuel supplied by our country’s petroleum companies. My guess: Either the petrol in these pumps is adulterated or the pumps are not calibrated properly. Either way, we end up losing, or at least I feel I am losing … And not to forget the price and bills… I can’t get this feeling of being cheated out of my mind…!!

Food for Thought

Globalization of education has allowed students from all over the world to go to various countries of their choice to pursue a degree in the field of their choice. It has its own share of advantages as well as disadvantages, but what doesn’t have. Everything has its own share of advantages and disadvantages like the two faces of a coin. But I am not really bothered about any of it, as my motives behind writing this is entirely different and insignificant as well but my inspiration for this post comes from my Facebook “wall”.

I started going through few statistics and I found out that India is one of the recognized centres of education attracting students from different parts of the world, especially from countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Ethiopia, Fiji, Hong Kong, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Japan, Ghana, Malaysia, Lebanon, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Syria. The list is exhaustive, it has got almost all the countries in the region except for Pakistan and China (They have their own reasons I guess, but who cares..!!!). Any ways, Indians are not far behind, the number of students from India going abroad to pursue higher studies is growing every year. According to Times of India, US, UK, France, Australia, Germany and Japan are the most favored destinations for Indian students. China sends the largest number of students abroad followed by India and other countries. Now according to few statistics, India has a low rate of students going abroad compared to global average it seems, but according to numbers, we stand second right on the tail of China. Now come on, don’t be surprised… We have a population of somewhere around 1.2 billion and China has more than us…So when it comes to numbers will always be somewhere on the top.

What do our guys and girls do, after going there…? My guess, they will study hard…attend classes and complete the course work to graduate, which most of them do with flying colors and hopefully they will end up working in some reputed company and earn a hefty salary if they are lucky. Now, everyone knows this, and it does not come as a surprise to most of us. But… most of the people I know (or at least I pretend to know just because I am friends with them on Facebook..!!) do something else which always keeps me wondering…and it has also got me under a perception that they go out to learn how to cook Indian food which they would never have learnt if they had stayed back in India..!!!

Surprised?? Shocked?? Do you smell a hint of sarcasm in my words?? I guess so, but even you will start thinking the same if your Facebook wall starts looking like mine. I can see one or the other (sometimes 2 or more) “friend/friends” uploading pictures of the food they cooked at their place. Let’s say, they are excited to be cooking something new…But pictures of Indian food?? Come on…give me a break, we see and eat it every day or almost every day. If you are one of them and unless you are doing a course in hotel management or learning to be a chef, please concentrate on your work or studies more than garnishing, decorating and then taking pictures of “Indian” food (FYI, the food tastes the same with or without your artistic touch) .

In the end it is Facebook to be blamed for trying to tempt me by displaying the “foodilicious” updates on my wall and forced me to write this entry.

Source 1, Source 2

Disclaimer: If you are one of those people whom I may have intentionally or unintentionally described in this post, then please relax and don’t make any attempts to harm me for I come in peace and I would like you to keep on adding more pictures. J

Namma Metro at last?? Hope So...!!

‘Namma Bengalooru’ (Translated:Our Bengalooru), or ‘Bangalore’ as I prefer to call is ready for ‘Namma Metro’, with the first half of the first phase of East-West corridor stretching across 18.1 km completed at last ( Still more to come, dunno when). One can hear a sigh of relief from lots of Bangaloreans who had lost hopes of going on the Metro in their lifetime and hoped their ‘yet to be born’ children will get to commute in Bangalore Metro. But now they can experience it firsthand and probably live to share their experiences with others. I suggest them not to get their spirits up at least until it is officially inaugurated by the Prime Minister of India on god knows when.


The Metro project is running late by months already, hope the trains will at least run on time and most importantly on tracks..!!  If you find me too pessimistic, then you are wrong, for I still like to believe that every cloud comes with a silver lining (not gold as the prices continue to go skywards) and hence to convince everyone that I do still have few drops of optimism left in my system I applied for Namma Metro Travel Card, and I got it delivered to my home. So much for my optimism, I don’t want my 120 bucks to go waste, so they better get it running soon…!!

I do Support Open Access

In today’s world, money seems to be everything. Whenever and wherever there is a possibility numerous groups or individuals jump to monetize it. One can find various instances where people have stolen ideas from others and passed it off as their own, earning big bucks in the process. Not to mention the companies going ga-ga over copyrights, patents, trade secrets and all those stuff.

Companies want to protect their trade secrets, marketing strategies and even go to world’s end just to keep the public from knowing their modus operandi. While coming to the section of money minting machinery which comes under copyright protection, especially publishing houses one can hear them always fussing and complaining about piracy. Now is piracy really doing what they say it is?? I guess not. It is just greed and ignorance of various groups and industries what makes them say what they say. Now, http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2011/04/28/who-deleted-the-song-in-my-profile/ was something I came across and found that it makes perfect sense.

In the present scenario, the main purpose of dissemination of information through books and other literature has taken a backseat. It is all about how much a publisher can earn out of selling those books. It does not matter how much, the author will get as royalties for it will be usually a very small percentage unless he /she is well known and holds multiple degrees from various elite institutions.
Ever thought of the driving force behind piracy? What makes hawkers sell those pirated copies of well known titles on the streets? If you ever thought along those lines then you will observe that most of the pirated books are the ones which comes with a huge price tag and written by some well known authors. No one really cares about the quality of content or the quality and importance of the information available in it as long as the person who wrote it is famous.

But things are changing, It is the world of ‘wiki’ or that’s what they call it. It is people who are generating content, revenue and even sophisticated technologies, innovations and discoveries by the collective effort of people online as well as offline. There are various open source, open access content as well. Linux as well as Android are the best examples for open source software. The open access digital content on the internet allows people to use it for free and also share it with others without thinking about copyright infringements. All they have to do is give credit to the creator of the work.

Now, all I wanted to do was to share some information about a website I came across where one can download open access books on almost all fields of science and technology. I was so overwhelmed that I started writing lots of necessary as well as unnecessary things.

The following site is worth checking out. It may prove helpful and come of some use when in need of some material. http://www.intechopen.com/. I would also wish to express my gratitude to all the authors who have got their titles on the website and to the Intech Open team as well. I hope more and more people will do the same and let books and other materials become the medium of dissemination of information as it was earlier than commercial commodities of the current world. I would also wish to express my gratitude to Mr. Johannes Gutenberg as well as without his printing press these things may not have been possible at all.

A trip to MCF plant

A one day trip to Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd factory in Panambur, Mangalore. A memorable trip, especially the tour inside the Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) plant. The smell of ammonia and the slushy floor made it more adventurous and scary.
We got to wear the hard hat and go all around the plant which was undergoing maintenance operations. We also had the privilege to have some pretty decent food in the factory mess.
The city transport in Mangalore is amazing. The bus drivers seemed to me like qualified rally drivers who were driving buses just for kicks. They make you feel religious and god fearing, I guess they will make good priests. But I must confess that the bus rides were fun.I spent an adrenaline filled  16 hours in Mangalore. Hope to get some more soon.

Rebooting Research: Bioflukes

Rebooting Research: Bioflukes: "These are the handouts designed by Bioflukes for BANGALORE INDIA BIO-2011, The premier Biotechnology event of Asia held in Bangalore Interna..."

Zen and me...

This is something (I'm referring to the link below "Illusion of Control| Zen habits") which was tweeted by a friend of mine.. What it says makes complete sense, but do we really have the courage to do so?? I guess not.. But lets hope that one day we will, or at least I will get the courage to live like that.. Who knows, after all I can't control the outcome..;) Go ahead and read it..

The Illusion of Control | zen habits

:BioFlukes:Rebooting Research

:BioFlukes:Rebooting Research

Distinct Instinct: :BioFlukes:Rebooting Research

Distinct Instinct: :BioFlukes:Rebooting Research: ":BioFlukes:Rebooting Research This post marks the official launch News of the much awaited Life Science research information repository we..."

My Chemical Romance..!!

Almost 2 years since I finished my bachelors degree in engineering... Those good old days, which I miss and talking about those days, there are a lot of things which I regret doing and there are few which i wish I had done. There is one thing which I dont regret for doing, and that will be the research project carried out by us. 'Us' includes myself along with 2 more friends-Charan & Siddarth. After a long time I got a chance to revive those memories when we decided to present a paper on that project in a National level conference on Chemical Engineering- 'CHEMCORE-2011' held at MVJCE on 7th & 8th of Apr 2011.

Now, as I have started a blog, I feel the need to update it once in a while. And I feel that by writing about all these technical stuff I can make sure that people keep away from my blog.. A damn good way to hide from all the 'wanted' attention.. So, now I have made up my mind to write a brief overview of the whole project sans the technical details. And it goes like this -

Nanotechnology is one of the fastest growing sectors in the field of science and technology. Nanotechnology deals with the study and manipulation of particles/ materials having the dimensions in terms of nanometers. As we all know 1 nanometer is 1 billionth of a meter. The minute sizes of these particles impart some special properties to these materials which are likely to disappear as the size of the material increases. Some of these properties are desirable which makes nanotechnology a very important part in various industries. Among them we can find cosmetics and healthcare industries, these are huge benefactors of nanomaterials. The usage of Nanoparticles ranges from sunscreen compounds to drug delivery techniques. In these foresaid applications, the intimate contact between the Nanoparticles and living tissues is inevitable. Even though there are a lot of advantages of nanotechnology and Nanoparticles, the ill effects of these cannot be overlooked. This is where Nanotoxicology comes into picture.

Nanotoxicology is a field of science which deals with the study of the toxic effects of Nanoparticles on living entities. Toxicity can be defined as the degree to which a substance can cause damage to a living organism. There are many features of these Nanoparticles which impart toxicity to them. Among them is the quantum size, its greater surface area to volume ratio increases its chemical reactivity as well as biological activity. The shape, size, aggregation, surface charge and solubility influence its toxicity to a great extent.

Large number of Nanoparticles in the body may trigger the phagocytic mechanism, causing inflammation, overloading the body’s defenses, and leaving it susceptible to pathogen. The reactive oxygen species and free radicals formed due to high chemical reactivity leads to inflammation, damage to proteins, DNA and membranes etc. Also Nanoparticles penetrate the tissues and cells causing undesirable effects.

Incidentally there are few studies which have already been carried out regarding the toxic effects of the Nanoparticles on living organisms. Dr. Eva Oberdoster exposed the fishes to 0.5 ppm of fullerenes for a period of 48 hours to find it causing extensive brain damage in the fishes. Changes were observed in the gene markers in the liver as well hinting the affect on the entire physiology.

Similarly, Dr.Shosaku Kashiwada studied the accumulation and effects of fluorescent Nanoparticles on the Japanese killifish/ rice medaka and its eggs which are both transparent and has a short life cycle. It was found that the Nanoparticles were taken up by the blood stream and deposited throughout the body. Also there was a large accumulation of Nanoparticles in the yolk.

We carried out few experiments using ZnO, TiO₂, Alumina and MWCNT to find out its toxic effects on plant cells, animal cells and on protein molecules. Some of the parameters of toxicity evaluated for cellular level are IC50, Cell viability and growth rate during seed germination. IC50 is the measure of the effectiveness of a compound to inhibit a biological or biochemical function. It indicates the amount of substance required to inhibit a given biological process by half. Here, the cell viability is measured in order to find the IC50 value. Cell viability is the determination of the living and dead cells in a sample. It involves selective staining to differentiate between living and dead cells in a sample. We have employed Non radioactive cell proliferation (MTS) assay to check the cell viability. It contains a novel tetrazolium compound (MTS) & an electron coupling reagent (phenazine methosulfate). MTS gets bioreduced by dehydrogenase enzyme living cells to form formazan, soluble in culture media. Absorbance of which is checked at 490nm.

Mice fibroblast culture is prepared and they were serially diluted, MTS was added and reading taken at 490nm using a microplate reader and the data plotted to get a standard graph. The ZnO & TiO₂ Nanoparticles are added to the culture media in different concentrations, incubated for 4 & 24 hr periods then absorbance checked at 490nm. Graphs are plotted and the IC50 values are found out. It is found that the 4 hr exposure does not have any significant effect on cell viability but on 24 hour exposure, both have significant effects.

Phytotoxic effects was found by exposing the plant seeds namely, peas, groundnuts, chickpea and green gram to 2% Nanoparticles suspension and allowing it to germinate in a growth chamber for 5 days. The root length is measured, graphs are plotted. We also In order to confirm the results we kept onion bulbs immersed in Nanoparticle suspension for a period of 7 days and the growth of roots in observed.

To find the action of Nanoparticles on biomolecules, we chose to experiment with the effects on Alpha amylase enzyme. The enzyme activity was analyzed using DNS assay. Amylase breaks down starch into glucose. DNS acts on the aldehyde group in glucose and oxidizes into carboxyl group. At the same time DNS reduces to 3-amino,5-nitro salicylic acid. The absorbance is checked at 520 nm. The enzyme is incubated with I ml of 2% Nanoparticle suspension for 30 minutes at 37C. It was found that all the Nanoparticles reduced the enzyme activity significantly. Especially TiO₂ & ZnO.

Nanoparticle-Serum protein interaction was also found out by incubating 1:1 volume of human serum protein mixture with 1% & 2% Nanoparticle suspension, incubating @ 37C for 30 min and then subjecting it to SDS-PAGE. The Human serum proteins were extracted from human blood using ethanol precipitation method. The protein bands start disappearing as the concentration of Nanoparticles increases.

From the battery of experiments conducted, we observed the following:

The ZnO and TiO₂ Nanoparticles, which are widely used in sunscreen as pigments have undesirable effects on fibroblast cell upon prolonged exposure, and it is found that the ideal safe exposure time will be less than 4 hours at a stretch. Our phytotoxicity experiments, deviated from a previously published paper, where it was found that the Nano-Zn & Nano-ZnO were phytotoxic. There was a significant reduction in the enzyme activity upon exposure to the Nanoparticles, which may be due to various contributing factors. Protein degradation, allosteric inhibition, encapsulation by MWCNT or immobilization. The disappearance of bands in the SDS-PAGE indicates the breakage of peptide bonds in the serum protein by the Nanoparticles. The bands disappear at 1% concentration of TiO₂

The Nanoparticles were characterized by using TEM and it was observed that ZnO & Alumina were the smallest Nanoparticles. The core diameter of MWCNT was found to be around 10 nm, making it easy for the protein /DNA molecules to enter into it. TiO₂ is found to be around 10-30 nm. TiO₂ shows larger surface area which is the reason for higher reaction rate and production of ROS.

Summarizing we can say that the Nanoparticles have toxic effects, and as the use of these Nanoparticles in various fields are increasing day by day, more and more organisms are susceptible of exposure to these particles and it may pose a health hazard to both the plants as well as animals including Humans. This calls for proper handling and disposal, and also optimization of these Nanoparticles in the future to make it more useful with minimal hazard.

Now I hope this says it all... And those 2 days of conference went really well, for I enjoyed everything except for the presentations. Not to forget those good looking girls from the chemical engineering dept of that college who were always around.. But i do have one regret..Shit..!!! I should have asked her for her number, she was drop dead gorgeous..I missed the opportunity.... :'(

My own personal model..! ;)

Chemical Engineering and its allied branches are mostly concerned with the design, development and operation of process equipments. Training to be a Chemical Engineer requires us to learn about a lot of process equipments viz heat exchangers, distillation columns, condensers , evaporators, absorption towers and many more and also about a various accessories and control systems used in the equipments and processes. Among all these, designing of process equipments is a really interesting subject. Depending upon the process that has to be carried out, and taking into account various physicochemical properties of the components involved and the operating as well as the environmental conditions, the process equipments are designed accordingly. Now the first step of designing involves identification of the process, the properties of the components involved and the material to be used. Then we have to make mathematical calculations accordingly in order to come up with the suitable dimensions for the process equipment. Once it is done, a drawing is prepared manually or by using computer based software and in the end the equipment is fabricated.

One can improve his skills and understanding of the process equipment design and fabrication by constructing small scale models out of cardboard or wood. There was one such competition organized in our college in which I happened to participate. It was an inter-collegiate competition with teams coming from different colleges and we had around 25 teams competing and the rules demanded each team to have a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 3 members. Each team was allowed to choose a paper with the information regarding the equipment model they were supposed to construct. We got 1-1 Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger which we started designing at once without wasting much time. Once you get involved into it, you won’t feel the time passing by and once the model is finished you realize that you had been working continuously for hours. And being the first time for us, we did face some issues and had to rework few calculations and get the dimensions right but in the end we managed to finish it. It was in no way a perfect model but it was close to perfect and after the review of the models the judgment was passed and the 1^st place went to a similar model from a different college..! I strongly felt that we deserved the 2^nd or the 3^rd place after looking at the other models which won the prize. But no worries, as long as we were satisfied by our performance and this being the first time we had participated in such an event, we can always improve , do better and hopefully win prizes in the future. But the bottom line is that I enjoyed every moment of it and that’s what matters.

The water we drink.

Bangalore is a city which is growing very fast, thanks to the influx of people from all over the world, for it has made a name as the Education and IT hub of the country. One can find people of all kinds of ethnicity and religion on the streets of Bangalore. And guess what, the probability of you finding a person who shares the local tongue and dialect is very less, not to mention a particular category of people who fake their ignorance of the local language.

The point I am trying to make is that being a rapidly growing city in terms of area as well as population, Bangalore has got its share of problems. Some of the problems everyone experience is traffic, then comes water, power and also the ever increasing cost of living. There are times when the water supply won’t be regular; sometimes people may have to manage without the regular water supply by the municipal body. When we face these kinds of problems, it is a natural reaction for the citizens to get angry and blame the water supply board. Even I was among one of them until recently but my views changed a bit after I visited the water treatment and pumping station run by Bangalore Water Supply and Sewage Board (BWSSB) which is the government body which is responsible for the water supply and other related operation.

The water we get in the taps is sourced from the river Cauvery which is one of the major rivers in the country and flows across the southern Deccan plateau. This water treatment and pumping station is about 85kms away from the city and the river flows another 20 -25kms away from this. The water from the river is diverted from Shiva Anicut (Dam/ reservoir) which is situated near Shivanasamudra which is known for being the first hydroelectric power station in Asia. The water diverted from there makes use of the height (head) difference and flows until it reaches the Netkal Balancing Reservoir (NBR) from where it flows to the treatment plant situated in T.K halli (Torekadahalli) which is 9kms away from the NBR. In the T.K Halli facility, they treat the raw water from the NBR and then is pumped further towards the city. This facility is the first pumping station along the supply line which is followed by 2 more pumping stations before the water reaches Bangalore. This plant has 4 stages and the 5th one is under construction. The first stage, commissioned in the year 1974 has an output of 135 MLD, the second stage commissioned in 1982 has the same output of 135 MLD. Third stage came into operation in 1993 and has the capacity of around 330-350 MLD and the most recent one being the stage 4 plant, which started in 2002 operates at 330 MLD at the moment.

I had the privilege to visit the stage 4 plant recently and was surprised to find the whole operation automated and they recover as much water as possible during the operation of this plant. The water flows in from NBR and it is subjected to aeration in a cascade aerator where the water is made to flow down stepwise and this improves the contact with the atmospheric oxygen and brings about aeration. This aerated water then flows to the next section of the plant where it is subjected to pre chlorination. The chlorine gas is mixed with liquid phase (water) and is fed to the pre chlorination section. The chlorine levels are maintained at 1 ppm in order to bring about the disinfection of water. Then the raw chlorinated water is checked for turbidity and pH. This water source is found to have a constant pH of 8, so eliminating the need to regulate the pH but still the checks are carried to for variations. The turbidity is treated by using alum as a flocculating agent. The dosage of alum depends upon the turbidity of water. Compared to summer, the turbidity will be more in rainy season. This alum brings about flocculation of the suspended solids in water and in turn undergoes sedimentation in the pulsator clarifiers where the water is retained for around 20 minutes or more depending upon the amount of suspended particles present. The clean water obtained is made to flow into the filtration section where it gets filtered in Rapid sand filters. Once the filtration is done the water flows to the pumping station from where it is pumped towards Bangalore. The sludge formed in the clarifiers are pumped into a Sludge thickener where the sludge is thickened and the remaining water is removed and pumped back to the first step of treatment process again. The filters are backwashed once after every shift using air and water at pressure from below. The plant operates round the clock with three 8 hour shifts per day.

The treated water is again recharged with chlorine and pumped using huge centrifugal pumps. The water pumped has to pass through 2 more pumping stations before it reaches the city. The water is recharged with chlorine at every station and again once in the city before distribution. The water from all the 4 stages of this plant amounting to around 950 MLD is pumped using around 20 pumps making this the main source of water for the city. Around 190 MLD is sourced from one more river Arkavathy through another 2 pumping stations situated in Hesarghatta and T.G Halli near Bangalore.

That was a detailed description of the things I managed to remember, and the engineer there also made it a point to inform us that in case if they have to carry out any maintenance work, the plant has to be shut for a day or so, and this leads to a drastic reduction in the amount of water pumped and hence the interruption of regular supply of water in many areas of Bangalore.

But can’t we make use of the recycled/treated water from many sewage treatment plants set up in and around Bangalore to meet our non-potable requirements and reduce the demand thereby conserving water and saving the energy required to purify and pump water from far off places?? Think about it and work towards it.

'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'

As mentioned in the previous post, 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' is a longest major poem written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, an English poet and was published in the year 1798 for the first time. This is a great piece of work which relates the events experienced by a mariner who has returned back from a very long voyage. It is a very long poem and goes like this:

It is an ancient Mariner,
And he stoppeth one of three.
'By thy long grey beard and glittering eye,
Now wherefore stopp'st thou me?

The bridegroom's doors are opened wide,
And I am next of kin;
The guests are met, the feast is set:
Mayst hear the merry din.'

He holds him with his skinny hand,
"There was a ship," quoth he.
'Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon!'
Eftsoons his hand dropped he.

He holds him with his glittering eye—
The Wedding-Guest stood still,
And listens like a three years' child:
The Mariner hath his will.

The Wedding-Guest sat on a stone:
He cannot choose but hear;
And thus spake on that ancient man,
The bright-eyed Mariner.

"The ship was cheered, the harbour cleared,
Merrily did we drop
Below the kirk, below the hill,
Below the lighthouse top.

The sun came up upon the left,
Out of the sea came he!
And he shone bright, and on the right
Went down into the sea.

Higher and higher every day,
Till over the mast at noon—"
The Wedding-Guest here beat his breast,
For he heard the loud bassoon.

The bride hath paced into the hall,
Red as a rose is she;
Nodding their heads before her goes
The merry minstrelsy.

The Wedding-Guest he beat his breast,
Yet he cannot choose but hear;
And thus spake on that ancient man,
The bright-eyed Mariner.

"And now the storm-blast came, and he
Was tyrannous and strong:
He struck with his o'ertaking wings,
And chased us south along.

With sloping masts and dipping prow,
As who pursued with yell and blow
Still treads the shadow of his foe,
And foward bends his head,
The ship drove fast, loud roared the blast,
And southward aye we fled.

And now there came both mist and snow,
And it grew wondrous cold:
And ice, mast-high, came floating by,
As green as emerald.

And through the drifts the snowy clifts
Did send a dismal sheen:
Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken—
The ice was all between.

The ice was here, the ice was there,
The ice was all around:
It cracked and growled, and roared and howled,
Like noises in a swound!

At length did cross an Albatross,
Thorough the fog it came;
As it had been a Christian soul,
We hailed it in God's name.

It ate the food it ne'er had eat,
And round and round it flew.
The ice did split with a thunder-fit;
The helmsman steered us through!

And a good south wind sprung up behind;
The Albatross did follow,
And every day, for food or play,
Came to the mariner's hollo!

In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud,
It perched for vespers nine;
Whiles all the night, through fog-smoke white,
Glimmered the white moonshine."

'God save thee, ancient Mariner,
From the fiends that plague thee thus!—
Why look'st thou so?'—"With my crossbow
I shot the Albatross."


Part II

"The sun now rose upon the right:
Out of the sea came he,
Still hid in mist, and on the left
Went down into the sea.

And the good south wind still blew behind,
But no sweet bird did follow,
Nor any day for food or play
Came to the mariners' hollo!

And I had done a hellish thing,
And it would work 'em woe:
For all averred, I had killed the bird
That made the breeze to blow.
Ah wretch! said they, the bird to slay,
That made the breeze to blow!

Nor dim nor red, like God's own head,
The glorious sun uprist:
Then all averred, I had killed the bird
That brought the fog and mist.
'Twas right, said they, such birds to slay,
That bring the fog and mist.

The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,
The furrow followed free;
We were the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea.

Down dropped the breeze, the sails dropped down,
'Twas sad as sad could be;
And we did speak only to break
The silence of the sea!

All in a hot and copper sky,
The bloody sun, at noon,
Right up above the mast did stand,
No bigger than the moon.

Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.

Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.

The very deep did rot: O Christ!
That ever this should be!
Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs
Upon the slimy sea.

About, about, in reel and rout
The death-fires danced at night;
The water, like a witch's oils,
Burnt green, and blue, and white.

And some in dreams assured were
Of the Spirit that plagued us so;
Nine fathom deep he had followed us
From the land of mist and snow.

And every tongue, through utter drought,
Was withered at the root;
We could not speak, no more than if
We had been choked with soot.

Ah! well-a-day! what evil looks
Had I from old and young!
Instead of the cross, the Albatross
About my neck was hung."


Part III

"There passed a weary time. Each throat
Was parched, and glazed each eye.
A weary time! a weary time!
How glazed each weary eye—
When looking westward, I beheld
A something in the sky.

At first it seemed a little speck,
And then it seemed a mist;
It moved and moved, and took at last
A certain shape, I wist.

A speck, a mist, a shape, I wist!
And still it neared and neared:
As if it dodged a water-sprite,
It plunged and tacked and veered.

With throats unslaked, with black lips baked,
We could nor laugh nor wail;
Through utter drought all dumb we stood!
I bit my arm, I sucked the blood,
And cried, A sail! a sail!

With throats unslaked, with black lips baked,
Agape they heard me call:
Gramercy! they for joy did grin,
And all at once their breath drew in,
As they were drinking all.

See! see! (I cried) she tacks no more!
Hither to work us weal;
Without a breeze, without a tide,
She steadies with upright keel!

The western wave was all a-flame,
The day was well nigh done!
Almost upon the western wave
Rested the broad bright sun;
When that strange shape drove suddenly
Betwixt us and the sun.

And straight the sun was flecked with bars,
(Heaven's Mother send us grace!)
As if through a dungeon-grate he peered
With broad and burning face.

Alas! (thought I, and my heart beat loud)
How fast she nears and nears!
Are those her sails that glance in the sun,
Like restless gossameres?

Are those her ribs through which the sun
Did peer, as through a grate?
And is that Woman all her crew?
Is that a Death? and are there two?
Is Death that Woman's mate?

Her lips were red, her looks were free,
Her locks were yellow as gold:
Her skin was as white as leprosy,
The Nightmare Life-in-Death was she,
Who thicks man's blood with cold.

The naked hulk alongside came,
And the twain were casting dice;
'The game is done! I've won! I've won!'
Quoth she, and whistles thrice.

The sun's rim dips; the stars rush out:
At one stride comes the dark;
With far-heard whisper o'er the sea,
Off shot the spectre-bark.

We listened and looked sideways up!
Fear at my heart, as at a cup,
My life-blood seemed to sip!
The stars were dim, and thick the night,
The steersman's face by his lamp gleamed white;
From the sails the dew did drip—
Till clomb above the eastern bar
The horned moon, with one bright star
Within the nether tip.

One after one, by the star-dogged moon,
Too quick for groan or sigh,
Each turned his face with a ghastly pang,
And cursed me with his eye.

Four times fifty living men,
(And I heard nor sigh nor groan)
With heavy thump, a lifeless lump,
They dropped down one by one.

The souls did from their bodies fly,—
They fled to bliss or woe!
And every soul it passed me by,
Like the whizz of my crossbow!"


Part IV

'I fear thee, ancient Mariner!
I fear thy skinny hand!
And thou art long, and lank, and brown,
As is the ribbed sea-sand.

I fear thee and thy glittering eye,
And thy skinny hand, so brown.'—
"Fear not, fear not, thou Wedding-Guest!
This body dropped not down.

Alone, alone, all, all alone,
Alone on a wide wide sea!
And never a saint took pity on
My soul in agony.

The many men, so beautiful!
And they all dead did lie;
And a thousand thousand slimy things
Lived on; and so did I.

I looked upon the rotting sea,
And drew my eyes away;
I looked upon the rotting deck,
And there the dead men lay.

I looked to heaven, and tried to pray;
But or ever a prayer had gusht,
A wicked whisper came and made
My heart as dry as dust.

I closed my lids, and kept them close,
And the balls like pulses beat;
Forthe sky and the sea, and the sea and the sky,
Lay like a load on my weary eye,
And the dead were at my feet.

The cold sweat melted from their limbs,
Nor rot nor reek did they:
The look with which they looked on me
Had never passed away.

An orphan's curse would drag to hell
A spirit from on high;
But oh! more horrible than that
Is the curse in a dead man's eye!
Seven days, seven nights, I saw that curse,
And yet I could not die.

The moving moon went up the sky,
And no where did abide:
Softly she was going up,
And a star or two beside—

Her beams bemocked the sultry main,
Like April hoar-frost spread;
But where the ship's huge shadow lay,
The charmed water burnt alway
A still and awful red.

Beyond the shadow of the ship
I watched the water-snakes:
They moved in tracks of shining white,
And when they reared, the elfish light
Fell off in hoary flakes.

Within the shadow of the ship
I watched their rich attire:
Blue, glossy green, and velvet black,
They coiled and swam; and every track
Was a flash of golden fire.

O happy living things! no tongue
Their beauty might declare:
A spring of love gushed from my heart,
And I blessed them unaware:
Sure my kind saint took pity on me,
And I blessed them unaware.

The selfsame moment I could pray;
And from my neck so free
The Albatross fell off, and sank
Like lead into the sea."


Part V

"Oh sleep! it is a gentle thing,
Beloved from pole to pole!
To Mary Queen the praise be given!
She sent the gentle sleep from heaven,
That slid into my soul.

The silly buckets on the deck,
That had so long remained,
I dreamt that they were filled with dew;
And when I awoke, it rained.

My lips were wet, my throat was cold,
My garments all were dank;
Sure I had drunken in my dreams,
And still my body drank.

I moved, and could not feel my limbs:
I was so light—almost
I thought that I had died in sleep,
And was a blessed ghost.

And soon I heard a roaring wind:
It did not come anear;
But with its sound it shook the sails,
That were so thin and sere.

The upper air burst into life!
And a hundred fire-flags sheen,
To and fro they were hurried about!
And to and fro, and in and out,
The wan stars danced between.

And the coming wind did roar more loud,
And the sails did sigh like sedge;
And the rain poured down from one black cloud;
The moon was at its edge.

The thick black cloud was cleft, and still
The moon was at its side:
Like waters shot from some high crag,
The lightning fell with never a jag,
A river steep and wide.

The loud wind never reached the ship,
Yet now the ship moved on!
Beneath the lightning and the moon
The dead men gave a groan.

They groaned, they stirred, they all uprose,
Nor spake, nor moved their eyes;
It had been strange, even in a dream,
To have seen those dead men rise.

The helmsman steered, the ship moved on;
Yet never a breeze up blew;
The mariners all 'gan work the ropes,
Where they were wont to do;
They raised their limbs like lifeless tools—
We were a ghastly crew.

The body of my brother's son
Stood by me, knee to knee:
The body and I pulled at one rope,
But he said nought to me."

'I fear thee, ancient Mariner!'
"Be calm, thou Wedding-Guest!
'Twas not those souls that fled in pain,
Which to their corses came again,
But a troop of spirits blest:

For when it dawned—they dropped their arms,
And clustered round the mast;
Sweet sounds rose slowly through their mouths,
And from their bodies passed.

Around, around, flew each sweet sound,
Then darted to the sun;
Slowly the sounds came back again,
Now mixed, now one by one.

Sometimes a-dropping from the sky
I heard the skylark sing;
Sometimes all little birds that are,
How they seemed to fill the sea and air
With their sweet jargoning!

And now 'twas like all instruments,
Now like a lonely flute;
And now it is an angel's song,
That makes the heavens be mute.

It ceased; yet still the sails made on
A pleasant noise till noon,
A noise like of a hidden brook
In the leafy month of June,
That to the sleeping woods all night
Singeth a quiet tune.

Till noon we quietly sailed on,
Yet never a breeze did breathe;
Slowly and smoothly went the ship,
Moved onward from beneath.

Under the keel nine fathom deep,
From the land of mist and snow,
The spirit slid: and it was he
That made the ship to go.
The sails at noon left off their tune,
And the ship stood still also.

The sun, right up above the mast,
Had fixed her to the ocean:
But in a minute she 'gan stir,
With a short uneasy motion—
Backwards and forwards half her length
With a short uneasy motion.

Then like a pawing horse let go,
She made a sudden bound:
It flung the blood into my head,
And I fell down in a swound.

How long in that same fit I lay,
I have not to declare;
But ere my living life returned,
I heard and in my soul discerned
Two voices in the air.

'Is it he?' quoth one, 'Is this the man?
By him who died on cross,
With his cruel bow he laid full low
The harmless Albatross.

The spirit who bideth by himself
In the land of mist and snow,
He loved the bird that loved the man
Who shot him with his bow.'

The other was a softer voice,
As soft as honey-dew:
Quoth he, 'The man hath penance done,
And penance more will do.'


Part VI

First Voice

But tell me, tell me! speak again,
Thy soft response renewing—
What makes that ship drive on so fast?
What is the ocean doing?

Second Voice

Still as a slave before his lord,
The ocean hath no blast;
His great bright eye most silently
Up to the moon is cast—

If he may know which way to go;
For she guides him smooth or grim.
See, brother, see! how graciously
She looketh down on him.

First Voice

But why drives on that ship so fast,
Without or wave or wind?

Second Voice

The air is cut away before,
And closes from behind.

Fly, brother, fly! more high, more high!
Or we shall be belated:
For slow and slow that ship will go,
When the Mariner's trance is abated.

"I woke, and we were sailing on
As in a gentle weather:
'Twas night, calm night, the moon was high;
The dead men stood together.

All stood together on the deck,
For a charnel-dungeon fitter:
All fixed on me their stony eyes,
That in the moon did glitter.

The pang, the curse, with which they died,
Had never passed away:
I could not draw my eyes from theirs,
Nor turn them up to pray.

And now this spell was snapped: once more
I viewed the ocean green,
And looked far forth, yet little saw
Of what had else been seen—

Like one that on a lonesome road
Doth walk in fear and dread,
And having once turned round walks on,
And turns no more his head;
Because he knows a frightful fiend
Doth close behind him tread.

But soon there breathed a wind on me,
Nor sound nor motion made:
Its path was not upon the sea,
In ripple or in shade.

It raised my hair, it fanned my cheek
Like a meadow-gale of spring—
It mingled strangely with my fears,
Yet it felt like a welcoming.

Swiftly, swiftly flew the ship,
Yet she sailed softly too:
Sweetly, sweetly blew the breeze—
On me alone it blew.

Oh! dream of joy! is this indeed
The lighthouse top I see?
Is this the hill? is this the kirk?
Is this mine own country?

We drifted o'er the harbour-bar,
And I with sobs did pray—
O let me be awake, my God!
Or let me sleep alway.

The harbour-bay was clear as glass,
So smoothly it was strewn!
And on the bay the moonlight lay,
And the shadow of the moon.

The rock shone bright, the kirk no less,
That stands above the rock:
The moonlight steeped in silentness
The steady weathercock.

And the bay was white with silent light,
Till rising from the same,
Full many shapes, that shadows were,
In crimson colours came.

A little distance from the prow
Those crimson shadows were:
I turned my eyes upon the deck—
Oh, Christ! what saw I there!

Each corse lay flat, lifeless and flat,
And, by the holy rood!
A man all light, a seraph-man,
On every corse there stood.

This seraph-band, each waved his hand:
It was a heavenly sight!
They stood as signals to the land,
Each one a lovely light;

This seraph-band, each waved his hand,
No voice did they impart—
No voice; but oh! the silence sank
Like music on my heart.

But soon I heard the dash of oars,
I heard the Pilot's cheer;
My head was turned perforce away,
And I saw a boat appear.

The Pilot and the Pilot's boy,
I heard them coming fast:
Dear Lord in heaven! it was a joy
The dead men could not blast.

I saw a third—I heard his voice:
It is the Hermit good!
He singeth loud his godly hymns
That he makes in the wood.
He'll shrieve my soul, he'll wash away
The Albatross's blood."


Part VII

"This Hermit good lives in that wood
Which slopes down to the sea.
How loudly his sweet voice he rears!
He loves to talk with marineers
That come from a far country.

He kneels at morn, and noon, and eve—
He hath a cushion plump:
It is the moss that wholly hides
The rotted old oak-stump.

The skiff-boat neared: I heard them talk,
'Why, this is strange, I trow!
Where are those lights so many and fair,
That signal made but now?'

'Strange, by my faith!' the Hermit said—
'And they answered not our cheer!
The planks looked warped! and see those sails,
How thin they are and sere!
I never saw aught like to them,
Unless perchance it were

Brown skeletons of leaves that lag
My forest-brook along;
When the ivy-tod is heavy with snow,
And the owlet whoops to the wolf below,
That eats the she-wolf's young.'

'Dear Lord! it hath a fiendish look—
(The Pilot made reply)
I am afeared'—'Push on, push on!'
Said the Hermit cheerily.

The boat came closer to the ship,
But I nor spake nor stirred;
The boat came close beneath the ship,
And straight a sound was heard.

Under the water it rumbled on,
Still louder and more dread:
It reached the ship, it split the bay;
The ship went down like lead.

Stunned by that loud and dreadful sound,
Which sky and ocean smote,
Like one that hath been seven days drowned
My body lay afloat;
But swift as dreams, myself I found
Within the Pilot's boat.

Upon the whirl where sank the ship
The boat spun round and round;
And all was still, save that the hill
Was telling of the sound.

I moved my lips—the Pilot shrieked
And fell down in a fit;
The holy Hermit raised his eyes,
And prayed where he did sit.

I took the oars: the Pilot's boy,
Who now doth crazy go,
Laughed loud and long, and all the while
His eyes went to and fro.
'Ha! ha!' quoth he, 'full plain I see,
The Devil knows how to row.'

And now, all in my own country,
I stood on the firm land!
The Hermit stepped forth from the boat,
And scarcely he could stand.

O shrieve me, shrieve me, holy man!
The Hermit crossed his brow.
'Say quick,' quoth he 'I bid thee say—
What manner of man art thou?'

Forthwith this frame of mine was wrenched
With a woeful agony,
Which forced me to begin my tale;
And then it left me free.

Since then, at an uncertain hour,
That agony returns;
And till my ghastly tale is told,
This heart within me burns.

I pass, like night, from land to land;
I have strange power of speech;
That moment that his face I see,
I know the man that must hear me:
To him my tale I teach.

What loud uproar bursts from that door!
The wedding-guests are there:
But in the garden-bower the bride
And bride-maids singing are;
And hark the little vesper bell,
Which biddeth me to prayer!

O Wedding-Guest! this soul hath been
Alone on a wide wide sea:
So lonely 'twas, that God himself
Scarce seemed there to be.

O sweeter than the marriage-feast,
'Tis sweeter far to me,
To walk together to the kirk
With a goodly company!—

To walk together to the kirk,
And all together pray,
While each to his great Father bends,
Old men, and babes, and loving friends,
And youths and maidens gay!

Farewell, farewell! but this I tell
To thee, thou Wedding-Guest!
He prayeth well, who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast.

He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all."

The Mariner, whose eye is bright,
Whose beard with age is hoar,
Is gone; and now the Wedding-Guest
Turned from the bridegroom's door.

He went like one that hath been stunned,
And is of sense forlorn:
A sadder and a wiser man
He rose the morrow morn.

Didn't I say that it is a very long poem?? but indeed a great piece of work and a great story .

Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink.

"Day after day, day after day,

We stuck, nor breath nor motion;

As idle as a painted ship

Upon a painted ocean.

Water, water, everywhere,

And all the boards did shrink;

Water, water, everywhere,

Nor any drop to drink."

These are few lines out of 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' (The full poem can be read in the next post) by an English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. There is water everywhere in the ocean not of any use for it is too salty to be drunk. But the times are changing and it is possible that the water we drink in the future has to come from these oceans itself.

Water, its importance, the impending water crisis and few possible solutions were discussed in the 'International Summit on Water' held recently in Bangalore which I had the privilege to attend and here follows the overview of what I saw there.

Everyone knows that water is one of the most essential resources on this earth and it is very much required to sustain life on this planet. More than 70% of our planet surface is covered by water giving the name ‘Blue Planet’ to Earth. Out of this 70% of the total water, 97% is in the oceans and the remaining 3% is fresh water out of which 1% is available for use and the other 2% is locked in the glaciers and icecaps. The amount of fresh water is limited but whereas the demand for the same is growing in an exponential rate with the increase in the population and industrialization. Satisfying the demand is a major concern and over that, the sources of fresh water are constantly being polluted by the careless actions of man. The rapid rate of industrialization, urbanization and ever increasing population is the main reason for it.

The present day scenario calls for drastic steps to be taken in order to maintain the availability of water to everyone and also to conserve this precious resource. At this rate it is said water will switch places with petroleum to be called as ‘liquid gold’ in the near future and the most probable cause for the next world war will be water. To prevent this situation, we have to divert our attention towards the methods and possibilities of making efficient use of the scientific and natural resources available and come up with come answer and the solutions we have come up with are desalination and waste water treatment. There are many technologies being developed and few of them are already operational.

The International Water Summit 2011 is an initiative which provided the platform for the people working with these technologies can come together, exchange the thoughts, ideas, research work and also to create awareness among the people. This summit was organized by Indian Water Works Association [IWWA] which is a voluntary body of professionals who are concerned and connected with water supply for municipal, industrial, agricultural uses and treatment and disposal of waste water along with MECON which is a premier engineering company, a Government of India PSU who are also responsible for the construction of a 100 MLD desalination plant in Chennai in collaboration with ADECO.

International Summit on Water was a 2 day event held in NIMHANS Convention Centre, Bangalore on the 11^th and 12^th of February 2011. This summit focused on the 2 major areas of Desalination and Waste water treatment. This summit had more than 20 delegates from different institutes and organizations from across the globe presenting their papers.

There were many papers on Desalination technology and the projects being underway in various parts of the world, including the methods being utilized in the construction of the sea water Reverse Osmosis System to obtain desalinated water and also different purification and pretreatment methods studied in order to cater the demand during the upcoming Olympics in London. There were also representatives from the companies like Hyflux who manufacture equipments for SWRO plants discussing about the various pretreatment methods being used which is generally ultra filtration and the various types of filter cartridges available along with their lifespan. Mr. Dong Fei Li also compared the different types of desalination technologies used namely SWRO, MSF (Multistage Flash Distillation) and MED (Multiple Effect Distillation) and reasoning why SWRO is better than the other 2 process in terms of energy consumption and material costs. The plants having largest desalination capacity are situated in Asia at present and one such plant is SingSpring plant situated in Singapore which was presented as a case study.

The Desalination processes consumes a lot of energy and minimizing the energy consumption as much as possible makes the process more economical and in order to minimize the energy consumption, energy recovery devices like pressure exchangers (PX) are used. These PXs are installed in the flow system and it utilizes the energy from the high pressure reject steam to pressurize the cool inlet stream. The principle of working of these Energy Recovery Devices (ERD) and the various models available were made known by Mr.Madurakavi Kumar from Energy Recovery Inc.

There were papers which dealt with the recent trends and the development of the desalination technology in India and with specific reference to a MED plant in Gujarat and also the projects being undertaken by WABAG INDIA in Chennai. Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kallapakam is a Nuclear Installation under the Department of Atomic Energy, GOI and they have also set up a hybrid SWRO/MSD desalination plant to meet their year round requirement of fresh water and also make use of the high temperature steam generated by the power plant.

There are various programs which are designed for automation and monitoring of the SWRO plants which make the maintenance of these plants easier thereby making it possible to keep it operational round the year except for periodic maintenance when required. And the maintenance and automation solutions are supplied by ABB through their OPTIMAX Membrane Performance solutions.

It is a well known phenomenon that as the pressure decreases, the boiling point of the liquids will also decrease and by making use of this phenomenon the people at National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai have come up with an efficient plan of desalinating sea water. Now coming to industries, boilers are an integral part of many industries and these boilers need feed water , and for continuous operation they need hundreds of gallons of water free from salts as the salts may lead to scaling in the boilers and procuring fresh water from natural sources is not always a viable option so in order to overcome this, BHEL, Ranipet has set up a RO-DM plant to treat the agricultural runoff water and utilize it as feed water for boilers thus cleaning up the Agricultural run-off water which will be having high levels of colloids, minerals, pathogens along with fertilizers and pesticides and also making efficient use of the water resources. Here they pump and store the agriculture run-off water in a pond and later is subjected to a series of operations which include clarifying and filtering through a series of Pressure Sand Filters (PSF) and Activated Carbon Filters (ACF) and later subjecting it to RO process and further treatments.

The Desalination plants do have few effects on the ecosystem and nature due to the production of heat as well as concentrated brine which is again let out to the sea which causes variations in the density, temperature and salinity of the sea water in those areas of discharge which needs to be evaluated and corrective measures taken.

As the population increases the amount of sewage produced also increases and it is necessary to treat the sewage and make use of the treated water for indirect potable use and Pall has come up with Aria series of microfiltration modules which has been approved by the California Health Dept and is being used for municipal water recycling. Right now this process is in place in the state of California, USA and the water produced is used of irrigation, as boiler feed and also supplied to University of California, Davis for various needs. MF procedure is also used for secondary treatment of waste water before letting it out into the rivers. This is found to be a very cost effective procedure.

Steel industry is one of the biggest consumers of industrial water and as the supply of fresh water is drying up, the steel industry is now facing the dual challenge of increasing production and reducing consumption of water. This is only possible when wastewater is recycled after treatment and near-zero discharge level is achieved and consumption of water per unit of steel production is minimized. These challenges can be effectively addressed by properly using existing knowledge of water and wastewater treatment and simultaneously adopting emerging technologies.

Along with these there were also discussions and presentations regarding the studies and steps taken by BWSSB for monitoring and removal of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDC) present in water by adsorption, advanced chemical oxidation and other membrane processes. The initiative taken by the Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology to use treated water wherever possible by setting up a treatment plant in their backyard was also one of the interesting topic.

The new thing under development in the process industries is known as ZLD or Zero Liquid Discharge processes, which are being developed and studied by various industries in India and around the world. Apart from all these, there were also discussions regarding the recent emerging trends in the field of municipal waste water treatment, reducing the production of waste water by making use of water efficient systems in day to day life and also usage of modern nanofiltration techniques for water purification and various methods for recovery of certain metals and also petroleum residues from the waste water.

This summit addressed almost all the major water issues being faced at present and near future and also the steps that has to be taken in order to prevent the water crisis. Apart from desalination and waste water treatment, using water judiciously and conserving it will solve half of the problems regarding water shortage.

Now, I did learn something or rather many things out of this summit. Should make it a point to attend more of these kind of things.